Seems fitting now.
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Welcome the “Oaf of Office”
Tag United States
The Cost of a Free Lunch
“If then you were raised with Christ,
seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above,
not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2)
There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist government.
In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question.
He asked, ” Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke.
“You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.
Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to the U.S.A. The government keeps pushing us toward communism/socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc., while we continually lose our freedoms- just a little at a time.
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Inauguration Day
Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor.
In*au`gu*ra"tion\, n. [L. inauguratio a beginning: cf. F. inauguration.]
- The act of inuagurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.
2. The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.; as, the inauguration of a new system, a new condition, etc.Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It had five porches. Under these porches a large number of sick people—people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed—used to lie. One man, who had been sick for 38 years, was lying there. Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?” The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.” Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.” The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked. John 5:2-9 (GW)
The Pool of Bethesda was located on the eastern side of the city near the Fortress of Antonia. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy."The water source was a nearby spring. Recent archaeological discoveries have confirmed the Biblical account, that there were five porches and the fifth one divided the rectangular pool into two separate compartments. Josephus wrote about the Pool of the Sheep-market.
There is a loud cry of discrimination and inequality being heralded throughout our land. There are those who may feel like this crippled man, that there is no one looking out for them, there is no one to give them a hand out, there is no one to help them attain their goals. So here they sit and wait and complain about being discriminated against.Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter when he asks. "Would you like to get well?" Do you really want your situation to change? Are you really ready for change? Are you willing to take responsibility for change?
The man answered that he had no one to help him. There was no one to enable him. There was no compassion being shown him. No one cared or showed mercy. There were others skipping in line and going before him. His answer should have been YES SIR! I want to be healed. Instead he made excuses. Jesus then commanded him to GET UP! PICK UP YOUR BED! and WALK!
There is the simple remedy to life’s ills. Get up, pick up, and start to walk!
I have listened to crowds of people cry YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN and then come running with their hands out. Now I am not the smartest person on this planet but I am having a hard time understanding how you can say YES WE CAN and then turn around in the next breath and cry NO WE CAN’T.
We are about to inaugurate a leader who made us cry YES WE CAN but then says NO YOU CAN’T. Our new
leader seems to think that the government has the cure, while simultaneously ignoring the huge pool of opportunity sitting right before us. He promises that all can drink from the public pool of funds collected from those who have been healed by the pool’s waters of opportunity, yet he does not offer to lift anyone into the pool to actually be healed.
leader seems to think that the government has the cure, while simultaneously ignoring the huge pool of opportunity sitting right before us. He promises that all can drink from the public pool of funds collected from those who have been healed by the pool’s waters of opportunity, yet he does not offer to lift anyone into the pool to actually be healed.The crippled man sat by the pool for 38 years. He had seen a whole generation pass before him into the waters while he was continually passed up. For those who have long been imprisoned with this crippling mindset, I can understand their lack of internal strength, to do whatever it takes to obtain their goals and objectives. There are some in our society who have been put down and overlooked for so long that they have accepted their lot and gave up on their goals. They sit by the wayside of life, day in and day out watching others succeed, and lament their inability to achieve. They have lost the inner desire to achieve.
With Hearts and Hands and Voices
Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
A Random rambling from the resident raptor.
Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom the world rejoices;
Who from our mother’s arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.
From “Now Thank We All Our God” by Martin Rinkhart (1586-1649)
Although Martin Rinkhart witnessed first hand severe suffering and death during the “Thirty Year War” yet he was able to find a place in his heart to praise and thank God. It is real easy to give praise and thanks to God when things are going well, but it really takes hard to go the extra mile and reach out in praise to God even though surrounded by such dire circumstances. It truly takes heart.
Brotherly Love Powers Lawn Mower Trek
Alvin Straight couldn’t be stopped once he came on an idea.
“Whenever he set his mind to doing something, he was about like a train on a track,” said Straight’s son, William, the middle of seven children.
Much has been written about the 73-year-old man who rode a 1966 John Deere mower 240 miles to see Hank, his older brother, four years ago. But questions remain as to who the man really was behind the white beard, thick glasses and cowboy hat.
“He was a real straight forward person, real good at setting goals,” William said.
Asked to illustrate what he meant with a story about his father, William added, “It’s kind of hard to condense a person into one story.”
There was much more to Straight, now known as the “lawn-mower man,” than his road trip.
“If I was to have Dad sit down and write a resume, it would be a long one,” including these titles: bounty hunter, farmer, rancher, carpenter and coal miner, William said. “Dad never let grass grow under his feet.”
Straight raised his seven children with high moral standards, William said. So even though they moved around a lot, to Oregon at one point, William and his siblings always knew what was what at home.
As with many families, not everyone got along all the time. This was probably a part of Alvin Straight’s motivation to ride his mower to his brother’s house. When Hank had a stroke, Alvin knew his time, too would eventually run out. So as quick as he could, Alvin went to his brother to mend some previous hurts. Source: Waterloo- Cedar Falls Courier Pulse October 15, 1998 Susan Bosch
On good days he averaged about five miles an hour along U.S. 18. But about four days into the trip, the engine failed on his mower in West Bend, 21 miles from where he had started in Laurens, Iowa.
Mr. Straight spent $250 replacing points, the condenser, plugs, the generator and the starter.
He made it to Charles City, 90 miles from West Bend, when he ran out of money in mid-July, and had to camp out until his next Social Security check arrived.
By Aug. 15, he had made it to within two miles of his brother’s house near Blue River, but then his mower broke down again. A farmer helped him push it the rest of the way . Source: New York Times Aug 25, 1994
Alvin was a man on a mission. He had a purpose and nothing was going to deter him from making his journey to be with his brother. No cost was prohibited, no obstacle was too large, nothing short of his own death was going to stop him from reaching his brother in need. Alvin had heart. He had passion.
An inscription found on the General Post Office in New York City reads:
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these
couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
Inscribed in the words of scripture we find:
Everyone has passion. Some for wealth and security, some for social status and prestige, some have a passion for a sport, or artistic expression. Like Alvin they give all they have to pursue that passion. They are willing to invest the time and energy to reach their goal.
As a church we need to be consumed with the passion of God like a dear panting for water. Where are we spending our resources? What are we passionate about?
God as Psalm 42:1 states? A passion for the lost? John 4:34 & 35 A passion for the world? Matthew 28:19
Does our worship of God cost us all or cost us nothing at all?
For where our heart is there will be our treasure.
Then the king (David) said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.2 Sam 24:24-25 (NKJV)
David had a heart after God and he refused to offer a sacrifice that cost him nothing.
David, had been trained in ritual worship. From his earliest years he had never worshiped with that which cost him nothing. He had brought his offering, and he had paid for it, and he had denied himself something so that he might pay for it. The God whom he had found when he was shepherding was not a God to be worshiped on the cheap.
And then there came his fall, and the terrible havoc of his kingly character, and David found that all the blood of goats could not make him a true worshiper again.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart.” Psalm 51:17
Let him give his kingdom for an offering, and he would not be an acceptable worshiper. He must give himself, he must deny his lusts; he must lay aside his pride and be penitent, or all his worship would be mockery, and the sanctuary a barren place for him. He knew from the first that worship meant denial. It was his thought of denial that was deepened. He found there was no blessing in the sanctuary unless his heart was penitent and humble. And that was a mighty truth for him to grasp, and it has enriched the worship of the ages, and has passed into the newer covenant, and into all the gatherings of its saints. –A Treasury of Great Preaching
Worship has got to be more than a nice hour on Sunday morning. Worship has got to mean more than pretty music and a stirring message. True worship of God has to cost us something. There has to be an investment on our part to make it meaningful and life changing. If we come with empty hands we shall leave with empty hearts. But if we bring all we have to the altar of God and lay it all down than God can fill us with His fullness.
Worship requires giving of ourselves. Worship requires self-denial. Worship requires heart.
Unlike Alvin we can not get to God on a John Deere but like a deer we can pant for God and find Him in worship. If we worship Him with our whole heart.
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)
King Me!
Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
Jesus was getting closer to Jerusalem, and the people thought that the kingdom of God would appear suddenly. While Jesus had the people’s attention, he used this illustration.
He said, “A prince went to a distant country to be appointed king, and then he returned. {Before he left,} he called ten of his servants and gave them ten coins. He said to his servants, ‘Invest this money until I come back.’
“The citizens of his own country hated him. They sent representatives to follow him and say {to the person who was going to appoint him}, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
“After he was appointed king, he came back. Then he said, ‘Call those servants to whom I gave money. I want to know how much each one has made by investing.’
“The first servant said, ‘Sir, the coin you gave me has earned ten times as much.’ “The king said to him, ‘Good job! You’re a good servant. You proved that you could be trusted with a little money. Take charge of ten cities.’
“The second servant said, ‘The coin you gave me, sir, has made five times as much.’ “The king said to this servant, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
“Then the other servant said, ‘Sir, look! Here’s your coin. I’ve kept it in a cloth for safekeeping because I was afraid of you. You’re a tough person to get along with. You take what isn’t yours and harvest grain you haven’t planted.’
“The king said to him, ‘I’ll judge you by what you’ve said, you evil servant! You knew that I was a tough person to get along with. You knew that I take what isn’t mine and harvest grain I haven’t planted. Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.’
The king told his men, ‘Take his coin away, and give it to the man who has ten.’ “They replied, ‘Sir, he already has ten coins.’ “‘I can guarantee that everyone who has something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much.
Bring my enemies, who didn’t want me to be their king. Kill them in front of me.’” Luke 19:11-27 (GW)
One of the oldest and most enjoyable pastimes, the game of checkers, has been played by notable persons in history including presidents such as George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt; inventors such as Ben Franklin, and Thomas Edison; and, interesting folks such as Edgar Allen Poe, Harry Houdini, and Will Rogers.
Life lessons gleaned from a checker game
A Quiet Game of Checkers
Checkers is played on a board made up of 64 Â squares. They are laid out in eight columns and eight rows with alternating light and dark squares.
Checkers is a game for two players. Each player receives twelve, flat, disk-like pieces which are placed on the dark squares making sure that a light colored square appears in the lower right hand corner of the board. The darker colored checkers are usually designated black, and the lighter color is designated white. Black always moves first and play proceeds alternately.
Initially, individual checkers may only move forward. There are two types of moves that can be made, capturing moves and non-capturing moves. Non-capturing moves are simply a diagonal move forward from one square to an adjacent square. (Note that the lighter squares are never used.) Capturing moves occur when a player “jumps” an opposing piece. This is also done on the diagonal and can only happen when the square behind (on the same diagonal) is also open. This means that you may not jump an opposing piece around a corner.
On a capturing move, a piece may make multiple jumps. If, after a jump, a player is in a position to make another jump then he may do so. This means that a player may make several jumps in succession, capturing several pieces on a single turn.
Forced Captures: When a player is in a position to make a capturing move, he must make the capturing move. When he has more than one capturing move to choose from, he may take whichever move suits him.
When a checker reaches the opponent’s edge of the board (called the “king’s row”) it is crowned with another checker. This signifies that the checker has been made a king. The king now gains an added ability to move backward. The king may now also jump in either direction or even in both directions, in one turn (if he makes multiple jumps). This makes capturing opponents pieces easier and adds significantly to your ability to win the game.
The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing checkers or to create a situation in which it is impossible for your opponent to make any move. Normally, the victory will be due to complete elimination.
Today the game is as healthy as ever, with people all around the world playing at least a version of it. It can be good training in thought, logic and strategy.
Jesus told a parable one day when the disciples were wondering when he was going to set up his kingdom. In this parable, he told the story of an ambitious prince who came from a foreign country, all the way across the board to be kinged. He hired servants to go to work on his campaign, invested money in them from which he expected to get a favorable return on his investment. He hoped that the servants would be able to garner interest on his behalf. When the one servant failed to show any return on the investment, he was stripped of what little he had and it was handed over to the one who had the most.
A valuable lesson can be learned from this. When someone gives you something, expecting  a return, it is never in your best interest to accept such a “strings attached proposition”. As with most government programs, there is that “hidden string” attached, that will take what little you may have and give it to someone who has much. Thusly it is rightly stated ‘I can guarantee that everyone who has something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much.’
To this day government handouts work much the same way. When money is dispensed, certain requirements are placed on that money. Those who fail to meet the requirements will have the money taken from them and it will be given to someone who has a great deal because they are producing the results the rulers wish to receive back.
Those who knew this man best, did not wish to be ruled by him because they hated him and sent a delegation after him to ask the people to not “king” Â this man. These, who opposed the king, were later killed in his presence.
The game of checkers is much like a political campaign, in that a player strategizes over each move to ascertain the best possible way to achieve success- being kinged. Jumping over opponents, stepping over people, removing any and all opposition, is in the best interest of the player who wants to be king.
In checkers no one gets hurt, but in real life that is not the case. When a politician resorts to doing whatever it takes to get elected (kinged) they sometimes will stop at nothing when opposed. Such was the case of this prince who desired to be king. All those who opposed his reign where ordered to be killed in his presence. He stood there and presided over the executions. Even his own workers were chastened if they failed to produce the desired results-gain interest for the candidate. Those who pleased the king were given choice seats in his government, they were rewarded with political favor and power. They were able to EARN their seat. They went from being ruled, to ruling, from enslavement to empowerment, from serving to being served.
Of course Jesus was using this parable to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven, and that those who oppose making Jesus, King of their lives, will suffer the punishment of being banned from his presence for eternity. Those who hated Him sought to have him killed in attempts to end his influence amongst the people. That plan failed because they failed to understand that He would indeed die, but three days later He would rise again from the grave and ascend into heaven to rule and reign forever. His kingdom has no end.
Unlike the ambitious prince who killed those who opposed him, Jesus forgave them. Instead of handing the opposition over to death, Â He chose to die in their place. I can get behind someone who sacrifices himself for the sake of others, I have a very hard time supporting one, who will do whatever it takes to get ahead, even the total destruction of those who oppose him.
I can work for a campaign which seeks the best interest of those whom they are seeking to rule, I can not get behind anyone who only seeks to serve himself  by enslaving those whom he seeks to rule over.
I can support a ruler who gives gifts to men for the sole purpose of enriching their lives and giving power to the powerless, so they can overcome their problems. I have a real problem supporting one who uses power and influence in order to buy votes and support, and then rewarding those who do their bidding with seats of power and control.
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42-45 (ESV)
I do not know about you, but as far as I am concerned, I think I like the way Jesus ran his campaign for kingship far better than the way we see others running their campaigns. What say you?
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)
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